Shipping containers whet entrepreneurs’ appetites

Nine of the 12 stalls serve food, and 30 to 40 people are on a waiting list hoping to snag one of the spaces, Ms. Hall says.

A string of orange and yellow market stalls decorates the southeast corner of Dundas and Bathurst streets, where vendors offer everything from crêpes to T-shirts to bicycle repairs.

Metal tables and chairs line the sidewalk, giving passersby a place to stop for lunch, sip a little home-made lemonade or catch some shade under a row of trees.

Two years ago, this spot was just a drab stretch of pavement abutting a concrete wall on the edge of the working-class Alexandra Park neighbourhood. But Scadding Court Community Centre has transformed it into a bazaar, assembling disused shipping containers and renting them out to merchants to convert into shops.

It’s an innovative model that jazzes up the streetscape and gives entrepreneurs a cheap way to get started. Market 707, named after its address on Dundas, is also helping rectify one of Toronto’s biggest failings: the lack of diverse street food.